Slytherin, Sorry
by thecompletebookworm
Summary: Harry gets the news that Albus is in Slytherin. The only sensible thing to do is to rush to his side.


Ginny's knock on his study door shook Harry from his paperwork. The paperwork he was not doing, that he was merely staring at blankly.

"Yes, Gin."

She held out a letter to him. "I think you'll want to see this."

"If it's another letter from Hermione about-"

"It's from Al," she interrupted him.

"Already?" Harry pulled himself out of his desk. "I thought it would be a week at least, running around the castle with Rose, making friends. The first night is always exciting."

Ginny coughed, cutting off his reminiscing. "I'm not sure that's the situation he's dealing with."

"What do you mean?" Harry glanced at the piece of parchment.

She handed it to him. "It's rather short."

The letter was only three words.

"Slytherin.  
Sorry, Albus"

Harry understood why Ginny's brown eyes were tinged with hurt. "Why would he think he'd have to be sorry about that?" He ran a hand through his hair, "Well James said-"

"James said a lot of things!" Ginny's voice was sharp. "All brothers do. What I mean is why our son would think that would make us love him any less?"

"I have no idea." Harry said the words without really meaning them. He was already thinking of the conversation on the platform, trying to figure out if his story about being able to choose had made it worse.

Albus had ambition. The decision could have been made from merely touching his head. The hat would see him playacting as Minister, as an Auror, a healer, and a writer for the Daily Prophet. A little boy who was intent on proving himself good at things and always interested in matters that seemed too big for one so small. Albus had the motivation and ambition to take on the world, not unlike his mother.

"I mean, Teddy is in Hufflepuff and-"

"Ginny, I think I'm going to head to Hogwarts, see if McGonagall will let me into see him."

Her wand was already up. Jackets being summoned their way.

"If you don't mind, I think I should do this alone."

"Harry!" Her scowl was not unreasonable.

"It's just I think I might have been the one to make him feel like this, so I-"

This time it was not Ginny who interrupted him. "MUMMY! I thought you were going to tell me stories about your days at Hogwarts." The shout from their youngest child made Ginny concede.

"I'll take care of Lily. You make sure Al is okay."

"Will do." He kissed her one last time before apparating.

Ginny pulled her face into a grin as she went to face Lily. "So what story do you want tonight, Lilyflower?"

"I want a new one. Like, did Uncle George and Uncle Fred really send you a toilet seat?"

* * *

It felt odd walking to the Slytherin common room as himself and while knowing the password.

McGonagall had given him a knowing look. "I was wondering if you would show up."

"It seems you know me too well, Professor."

Rushing off to Albus's side had felt natural. He didn't want his son to feel like he ever wasn't wanted. But now Harry doubted himself. It wasn't like anyone else's parents would be here on the first night like this. He didn't want to ostracize Al from his peers. But then he thought of the little "Sorry" written on the note and he knew what had to be done.

"Bowtruckles." A door appeared from the stone.

Within seconds of entering the silver and green common room, Harry was met by a first year who seemed right on track to be this generation's Percy.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, sir. Parents are not allowed in the common rooms."

Harry waved the note from McGonagall. "I've been given special permission."

The child grudgingly stepped aside. There was abrupt silence as he entered, the stares more intense than normal. Not only was an adult in their common room, it was a well-known Gryffindor. Within seconds, whispers had broken out. Harry ignored it, instead intent on scanning the room for a mess of black hair. He didn't see Albus anywhere. Instead there was a sea of silver, the high backed green chairs and the eerie glow from the lakeside window. Al was probably up in the dorms already, maybe even asleep. Harry tried not to think of his son crying himself to sleep, unhappy with his house, worried that his family would hate him.

A tug on his robes interrupted his horrible imaginings.

"I'm sorry, sir. Mr. Potter, sir. I didn't mean-well I did mean I just thought that you'd want to know and-"

Harry knelt in front of the blond child, the striking grey eyes oh-so-familiar. "It's all right, Mr. Malfoy. Do you know where Al is?"

The child nodded. "I can show you. He's just upstairs in our dorm, in his bed."

Harry stood up, wiping off his robes. The younger Malfoy nearly skipped out ahead of him to the stairs, ignoring the stares. Harry rushed to keep up.

On the third landing, they turned into the first years' room. At first glance, it looked empty. Four of the five beds sat empty with heavy trunks stacked neatly on top of them. Star-spangled green curtains separated the last bed from the rest. Harry could hear a faint sniffling.

"I'll just leave you two to, well, just do what you need to do and handle the whole, the whole um, green thing." Scorpius shuffled backwards out of the room, obviously trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible.

Harry walked across the room, stopping just before he reached the curtains. He raised his arm to "knock" on the thick velvet.

"Hey Al, can we talk please?"

There was one last sniffle before a startled "Dad?" The curtain whipped open fast enough to separate the curtains from the metal rod.

"Yeah, Bud. I'm right here." Harry moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

Al pushed himself up so he wasn't curled up against the headboard, but he did not move any closer. Harry tried not to resent the distance between them, forcing down every instinct to pull his son close, to make everything okay again.

"Can we talk, please?" Harry's words weren't more than a whisper. He wondered if Albus could hear the plea in his words.

There was a silent nod as Albus pulled his pillow out in front of him, squeezing it tightly.

"We got your letter."

Another nod.

"Do you know what the worst part of that was?"

Albus's green eyes shone with tears. He let out a muttered "Slytherin," almost too quietly to be heard.

"Oh no," this time Harry listened to his instincts, pulling Albus close, "The worst part of your letter was that you thought you had to apologize for being you. You should never feel like you have to be ashamed of who you are."

Albus merely shook his head, but he still leaned into Harry. "But Dad! Slytherin!"

Harry mimicked his son's tone. "Al! Slytherin is a great house with a respectable heritage. You have Merlin, Morgana, Auntie Andy, Uncle Regulus, Severus Snape."

A faint smile emerged. "The bravest man you ever met."

"Most definitely. Al, just because you're in Slytherin doesn't mean you can't be brave or smart or loyal. I know you Albus. You could have fit in anywhere."

"But then why'd I end up here?"

"Oh Albus, because the sorting hat thought this is where you could achieve the greatest things. It saw your ambitions, how you read all of Teddy's book desperate to know everything, how you trail after Aunt Fleur intent on becoming a perfect healer. It saw your cunning, how you can hide dungbombs so well even Uncle George can't find them, or prank James in ways that leaves no evidence that it was you." Here Harry gave Albus an insincere glare; Albus merely laughed.

"Dad, has a Potter ever been in Slytherin before?"

"Probably. I don't know much more than you do. You'll be able to find out more. I'm sure some of your new friends will be part of family who've tracked their heritage for ages. There will be evidence somewhere."

Albus gave him a disbelieving stare.

"Well, I mean, from what I saw from the old Black tapestry, there were definitely Potters married to known Slytherins, so they might have been Slytherins. But even if you are the first Potter in Slytherin, that just means you're all the more special. You'll be forging your own destiny no matter what."

"But aren't you at least a little mad?" Albus was no longer crying, but the evidence was still faintly visible.

Harry squeezed Albus's shoulder. "Not one bit. I was worried that you'd be on your own, without James to keep you safe."

"Dad!"

"Okay I lied. I was hoping you'd be able to keep him in line."

Albus laughed and Harry's heart leaped at the sound.

"I was worried the kids might not accept you because of me."

"Nah! Everyone's been so great! I mean Slughorn nearly started dancing when the sorting hat announced Slytherin."

"Slughorn's still working here?"

"Yeah and then the prefects Isabella Zambini and Ryan Flint made a joke about my instant addition to the Slug Club."

"NO! You're not joining the Slug Club."

"Dad, I know your stories, but Mum and Aunt Hermione seemed to have a decent time."

"Sorry I'd just be worried about your sanity if you had to be surrounded in that sort of company."

"You worry too much."

"Maybe, but that's my job. Now what about your friends?"

Albus's face lit up instantly. "Okay so first there's Scorpius. We met on the train and I sat in the compartment just like how you did with Uncle Ron and then we tried different candies because you know how dangerous it is to eat candy at our house, with all the snack-boxes floating around and Scorpius had puffs of steam coming from his ears because of the Peppermint imps and that's when Amelia Creevey came in. She laughed and said that's what happens to her too. And then-"

Harry couldn't stop smiling at his son's rambling words. It was then that he knew that everything was going to be okay. Albus already seemed happy and that was truly all that mattered.


End file.
